NO EXIT — House Republicans will meet again at 10 a.m. this morning to take another shot at choosing a new speaker after House Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE abruptly withdrew from the race last night. They will be gathering with mutual trust at a low point, their most experienced leaders sidelined or discredited and no clear path forward. (If we wanted to be dramatic, we might note that today is also Friday the 13th.) Rep. JIM JORDAN, who garnered only 99 votes in his faceoff with Scalise in the Republican conference earlier this week, is already working the phones to try to secure the job. But there are signs that Jordan will have the same problem as Scalise (and KEVIN McCARTHY before him): no path to 217 votes. Scalise started Thursday in a precarious position. Far-right Jordan backers went public with refusals to support Scalise. McCarthy allies plotted behind the scenes, whispering about the Majority Leader’s disloyalty. McCarthy himself publicly expressed doubts about whether Scalise could prevail. DONALD TRUMP, who endorsed Jordan, stirred the pot by repeatedly mentioning Scalise’s health in interviews. “Steve is a man that is in serious trouble, from the standpoint of his cancer,†Trump said. Scalise bled support all day long, and by last night’s GOP meeting at 7:30, he realized the speakership was out of his grasp. “We have to come together for the country. … It’s much bigger than me or anybody else, and nobody’s going to use me as an excuse to hold back our ability to get the House open again,†Scalise said, later telling Punchbowl's John Bresnahan that there were “games being played and I said I’m not going to be a part of it.†But the schisms seem to be deepening. Just as the overthrow of McCarthy embittered McCarthy’s supporters and cost Scalise, the defenestration of Scalise has infuriated Scalise allies who are hardening their opposition to Jordan. Case in point: Last night, Scalise loyalist Rep. ANN WAGNER (R-Mo.)told Olivia Beavers that she would “absolutely not†support Jordan after the way he treated Scalise. While Jordan was publicly showing graciousness saying Republicans should rally around their nominee, Wagner said he privately undercut Scalise, telling him after he won: “You get one ballot. And when you go down, you will nominate me.†When Scalise tried to protest, saying he won fair and square, Jordan replied, “America wants me,†before storming out the door. (Jordan’s office denies that this is how the convo went down.) Jordan is also viewed as an unproven fundraiser and a political headache for moderates facing difficult elections next year. It remains to be seen whether his relatively recent conversion to leadership team player will fully repair the Freedom Caucus cofounder’s history in fomenting the 2013 government shutdown — which memorably led then-Speaker JOHN BOEHNER to call Jordan a “legislative terrorist†— or his cheering on Trump’s historic 35-day shutdown over the border wall Plus, some members have expressed reservations that backing him might be rewarding bad behavior, allowing Jordan as well as McCarthy allies to sink another GOP leader they find credible. “We’re going to have the same problem with Jordan that we had with Scalise,†Rep. MIKE GARCIA (R-Calif.) said, though he indicated he’d back Jordan. “It’s a math problem.†WHO ELSE MIGHT ENTER THE RACE? Last night, the names being floated included: Majority Whip TOM EMMER, Rep. KEVIN HERN (R-Okla.) and acting Speaker PATRICK McHENRY (R-N.C.), who for the first time yesterday cracked open the door to being drafted when he said, “it’s up to the will of the conference.†(As a McCarthy inner-circler, he’ll immediately face a backlash from some of the eight members who voted to overthrow McCarthy — if not more, given his role crafting the bipartisan debt ceiling deal conservatives largely panned earlier this spring.) Keep an eye out for this, too: The WaPo reports, “When House Republicans meet on Friday, they plan to vote on the same rule change proposal†that would require their speaker candidate to secure 217 votes before taking the nomination to the floor of the House. That’s the proposal that went down in flames on Wednesday and presaged Jordan’s loss to Scalise in conference. Meanwhile, four other scenarios that might resemble “West Wing†or “Veep†plot lines (we’re not quite sure which) remain in the air: 1. Rep. TROY NEHLS (R-Texas) hasn’t let go of the fantasy of a Speaker Trump. “At some point in time, we all need to lay down our weapons and call in the leader of our party and have him address our conference,†the congressman told CNN’s Manu Raju. 2. The “Only Kevin†crowd hasn’t let go of the fantasy of resurrecting Speaker McCarthy. They are circulating a new letter arguing for the restoration of the ousted GOP leader. 3. Democrats, including Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES, continue to float the idea of lending their votes to a speaker candidate who would lead a bipartisan House. (Some Democrats have suggested House Rules Chair TOM COLE of Oklahoma could be a potentially palatable option.) But things would have to get significantly more dysfunctional for this path to become viable. “All Republican options have to fail first,†one Democratic House member told Playbook last night. 4. Rep. DAVE JOYCE (R-Ohio) wants the House to vote on giving McHenry the full powers of a speaker for a set time period, perhaps 30 to 90 days. He says he’s been workshopping the details of the plan with the House parliamentarian. FWIW, Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) has already expressed his displeasure with this plan. (There’s a historical precedent here, you know: During emergencies, the Roman Republic would sometimes vote to grant a temporary leader sweeping powers that came with an expiration date. The Romans had a name for this position: dictator. NB: Abuse of this position is also how both CAESAR and PALPATINE transformed republics into empires. Just saying!) THE REPERCUSSIONS: Lacking a speaker, there are no negotiations underway about avoiding a government shutdown next month. Aid for Israel and Ukraine can’t move forward. In the middle of the chaos yesterday, Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, addressed reporters with a sober warning about how his party’s embarrassing failure to elect a speaker was harming U.S. national security. “The world's on fire,†he said. “Our adversaries are watching what we do, and quite frankly they like it. Chairman XI [JINPING] talks about how democracy doesn't work. And we're proving him right.†Referring to America’s adversaries, McCaul added, “I see a lot of threats out there.†Then he motioned towards where his Republican colleagues were meeting. “But one of the biggest threats I see is in that room.†Further reading: — “Republicans fume as party tanks latest speaker pick,†by Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney: “It’s not just GOP centrists sparring with the hard right. It’s not just McCarthy loyalists secretly fuming at Scalise or his allies. There’s mounting anger across the entire conference that no GOP speaker candidate, including Jordan, appears able to prevail under the current margins.†— “With the World in Crisis, House Republicans Bicker Among Themselves,†by NYT’s Carl Hulse: “Despite conflicts overseas and an approaching deadline to avert a government shutdown, Republicans are unable to rise above their internal divisions.† — “The House GOP Can’t Elect a Speaker — and Donald Trump Doesn’t Really Care,†by John F. Harris: “If Trump is a would-be authoritarian, the House drama shows that he is not the kind who cares much about exercising authority beyond himself.†Happy Friday. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line with your odds on whether or not House Republicans will stay in town until they’ve chosen a new speaker: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.
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